Super Sharanya

The texture of Super Sharanya is very much similar to Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, the first film of director Girish AD. But in terms of the canvas, Girish has taken a step forward. Unlike TMD, which focused on a thin premise, Super Sharanya is almost a coming-of-age comedy with a young teenager at its center. Sharanya might well be a teenager with problems and confusion of that age. Still, somewhere I feel you can connect with her emotional space. The quality in the making that uses the banter comedy genre to place a relatable character makes Super Sharanya a thoroughly engaging watch.

As the title suggests, the film is about Sharanya. She is that anxious and insecure individual who is afraid of facing situations. She can’t say no to people, and toleration is her defense mechanism. What we see in the movie Super Sharanya is her campus life. How a series of events mold her to be a better individual is what we witness here.

Girish is not trying to achieve a politically well-balanced state by the film’s end. All one can say is that Sharanya has evolved tremendously because of the various experiences she had. Even the character Deepu, played by Arjun Ashokan, is problematic. But the film is trying to depict itself as an episode in Sharanya’s life. The kind of humor we have seen in Thanneer Mathan Dinangal is shown here as well, and it works immensely. Comedy is there throughout the narrative, and even when you see a scene where Sharanya breaks down, there is a bit of humor to maintain an empathetic smile on our face.

I am really curious to know the script-to-scene conversion process in a Girish AD movie. Because, be it Thanneer Mathan Dinangal or Super Sharanya, one would feel that almost everything we see on screen is improvised. The conversations are incredibly organic. The plot of TMD was fragile, and I must say that I wasn’t really confident about Girish as a director. But in Super Sharanya, also Girish takes a very thin idea and maintains an incredible balance. What I admire now about his craft is the ability to make a scene entertaining by adding simplistic layers. The scenes in his movies have a very narrow margin for error. Making the performers get the right meter is critical, and in both his films, Girish has managed to achieve that. Justin Varghese’s tracks were excellent, and I loved how they incorporated simple words in lyrics, even in emotional songs.

Anaswara Rajan as Sharanya is fantastic. From minute expressions to body language, she depicts the evolution of Sharanya convincingly. The story relies on the growth of this character, and Anaswara portrayed the gullibility and insecurities of her character beautifully. Arjun Ashokan as Deepu is funny and real. It is good to see an actor picking many variations in the movies he opts. My personal favorite in the film was Mamitha Baiju. Her character is supposed to be a bit eccentric. But despite being eccentric and funny, Sona felt like a real character. Vineeth Vishwam as the professor and Vineeth Vasudevan as the beta Arjun Reddy were hilarious. Naslen, Sajin, Varun, etc., were also memorable.

Super Sharanya is 160 minutes long, and some may say that a bit of a lag is there towards the end. But in my opinion, for a movie that wants to portray the transformation of a character, Super Sharanya effectively used the unavoidable drag. In the recent hit Jan-e-Man, even though we are laughing back to back for comedy sequences, we empathize with Josmon for his loneliness, which plays a crucial role in creating an emotional connection. Similarly, in Super Sharanya, even though it is a Thanneer Mathan style banter comedy, the film ultimately makes us look at Sharanya in an empathetic way, and that growth in Girish’s storytelling is indeed a promising sight.